Episode #272 - Hell Bent

 

"First thing you notice about the Doctor of War is he's unarmed. For many, it's also the last."

Episode #272:      Hell Bent.

Companions:        The 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald.

Air Date:             5th December 2015

After being tortured for billions of years inside his own confession dial, the Doctor has been pushed to the brink of madness. Returning to Gallifrey, he must face his own people, the Time Lords, but how far will he go in his quest for vengeance? Does he have another confession? And how fiercely does his rage towards them for causing Clara's death burn?

After the disappointing episode that preceded it, Hell Bent picks up the pace and the story quite nicely. After escaping from the confession dial he finds himself back on Gallifrey, now hidden at the far end of time. He comes into conflict with Rassilon (who seems to have gone more mad since we last saw him) and sort of takes over. It's all a ploy to snatch Clara at the moment of her death and keep her alive though, an event that causes more problems for the Doctor. Ultimately he escapes, meets up with Ashildr (Me), has a heart to heart with her, before believing that he had mind wiped her and they go their own ways. The Doctor once again on his own and Clara travelling, for now, with Ashildur. 

It's a good story with some well written dialogue and just the right amount of tension between the various characters. There are some nice throw backs to things like the Matrix and we get a bit more lore expansion. Little things that expand on the show. If I have any issue with this episode it is that it is somewhat disjointed for such an otherwise good story. We start off with the Doctor's return to Gallifrey and his meeting with Rassilon. He boots Rassilon off and then the story changes to the mythology of the Hybrid (which has been hinted at here and there). It then becomes an escape story and then falls into the explanation with Ashildr... and it doesn't flow very well. Almost like the ending was rushed. It's not a bad episode though which makes it feel odd. I just wish that somehow it had resolved itself as it leaves a lot of things left essentially unanswered.

Episode #271 - Heaven Sent

 

"If you think because she is dead that I am weak, then you understand very little. If you were any part of killing her, and you’re not afraid, then you understand nothing at all. So, for your own sake, understand this. I am the Doctor, I'm coming to find you, and I will never, ever stop."

Episode #271:      Heaven Sent.

Companions:        The 12th Doctor.

Air Date:             28th November 2015

As if the death of his best friend wasn't enough, the Doctor's situation has only gotten worse. What initially started as an attempt to help clear someone of a false murder charge has evolved into to something much worse. Now trapped in an old rusty castle in the middle of an ocean, the Time Lord is being stalked by a mysterious creature that only pauses when he gives up his deepest secrets. What does this thing want? And can the Doctor escape and find his way back home?

Heaven Sent is the continuation of the theme running through this season, which properly started in the previous episode with the death of Clara Oswald and the revelation that someone paid Ashildr to capture the Doctor. Although it is part of an ongoing three part story, each one is separate enough in my mind to deal with each section individually. 

This is actually a very odd story and it feels all too surreal for me. Especially once you work out what is going on closer to the end of the episode. Even so, Heaven Sent still works as an edge of your seat story. It's nice to have an episode that makes the viewer try to work it out before the Doctor does and there are plenty of clues.

One thing that does rub me the wrong way a little with this one is the revelation that the Doctor is just being recreated over and over again until he solves the problem. A situation that takes billions of years, quite literally. It is said that the Doctor's pattern is stored in the hard drive of the teleporter so that it creates an identical copy of him each time. But does this not mean that on some theoretical level, that our Doctor is dead by the end of the story? He would have been the first one out and killed. Everyone after that is just a copy. That's how I read it anyway and I'm sure an argument can be said that each copy is the Doctor. But going by how I see it, the Doctor we have followed for the last forty odd years is now actually deceased and we're left with a kind of teleporter clone (how very Star Trek). That doesn't quite sit with me. However, it is one of those elements where each viewer will take away their own interpretation of events and that is just as a good.

I'm rating this episode as 4 stars. It's not fantastic as of itself but it does work very well and the writer put some thought into it and it shows. It's a thriller of an episode I suppose and for me, Heaven Sent is a better than average episode because of it.

Episode #255 : Listen

"What's that in the mirror? Or the corner of your eye?

What's that footstep following, but never passing by?

Perhaps they're all just waiting, perhaps when we're all dead,

Out they'll come a-slithering from underneath the bed."

Episode #255:      Listen.
Companions:        The 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald.


Air Date:              13th September 2014.

The Doctor has been pondering a question: have people ever been truly alone? Does something lurk unseen beside us all? With Clara at his side, the Time Lord will find himself delving into familiar pasts and eerie futures. Just where does the answer to the old man's unanswerable question lie? Will he find the answers he's been searching for, or will his quest cost him his life this time?

Listen is a bit of an unusual story as it isn't really an adventure in the traditional sense of the show. Despite first appearances there are no enemies or villains for the Doctor and Clara to defeat. Instead it is a mixture of showcasing Clara's growing relationship with Danny Pink and a strange jaunt through time with the Doctor having a rather overactive imagination one day.

It tries to be a horror story of sorts and although it doesn't actually play out that way, Listen is an amazingly well written and suspenseful episode. Definitely one of the best of recent years and of the 12th Doctor's era of the show. Very clever. However, even though I happily grant Listen a 5 star rating, it has it's issues. They just are not worthy enough to ruin the enjoyment of this episode. Primarily, as I say above, there is no real story to this episode. Our heroes bounce through time in search of whatever the Doctor thinks is lurking under the bed and it doesn't reveal anything other that a possible for future for the family of Clara and Danny. Also, we don't get any answers to anything put forward in this episode - what was at the door of Colonel Pink's time ship at the death of the universe? Who or what was under the bed sheet and what promoted this strange adventure in the first place? Listen is great but I prefer these sort of episodes to give us some sort of answers.

One very interesting scene in this episode was not expected at the time of viewing. The TARDIS takes the travellers back in time to Gallifrey to a certain barn we saw in The Day of the Doctor, which turns out to be the childhood home of the Doctor and we encounter him in his first incarnation as a small boy having nightmares about something under the bed. Clara has this nice little speech that I guess is meant to show her setting him up for his journeys and adventures. It doesn't add anything to the actual episode but it is a nice addition that fits in well with Clara being the Impossible Girl.

This is probably my favourite episode of the first 12th Doctor season. Well written, good dialogue and a perfect edge of your seat feeling that more episodes of Doctor Who should have.

Episode #250 : The Day of the Doctor

"I've had many faces, many lives. I don't admit to all of them. There's one life I've tried very hard to forget. He was the Doctor who fought in the Time War, and that was the day he did it. The day I did it. The day he killed them all. The last day of the Time War. The war to end all wars between my people and the Daleks. And in that battle there was a man with more blood on his hands than any other, a man who would commit a crime that would silence the universe. And that man was me."

Episode #250:      The Day of the Doctor.
Companions:        The 10th Doctor, The 11th Doctor, The War Doctor and Clara Oswald.
Air Date:              23rd November 2013.

The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th anniversary special. In the 21st century, something terrible is awakening in London's National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor's own dangerous past comes back to haunt him.

It's all been building to this, the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who. It has certainly been worth the wait. Moffat did not disappoint with this one. The story revolves around the War Doctor really, as he steals an ancient Time Lord weapon called The Moment and plans to use it to destroy the Daleks and his own people. The Moment, however, is sentient and tries to show the War Doctor what will happen if he uses it. Somehow able to manipulate events so that the War Doctor joins with his 10th and 11th selves. Lets him see who he will become if he uses the weapon and on a side adventure stops a bunch of Zygons from taking over the Earth.

The Zygon plot is a little shoehorned in as a means of getting the Doctors together and getting them to where they need to be. It is nice to see the Zygons return though as another throw back to the classic show and we learn about their world being destroyed in the Time War. That ties in well with the events from Terror of the Zygons.

The real story is about the Time War and it is long overdue in coming. Although we still don't know about the strange horrors of the Time War we do at last see the Time Lords and Daleks fighting it out. This has been hinted at for years so it is nice to see it visited for the anniversary episode. In any case, it does the story justice and again we learn more about the Doctor though this. The more the show continues the more we are being shown about the Doctor's life and who he really is, and whatever you may feel about Russell T Davis and Steven Moffat, you can't fault that they have done wonders pushing that aspect of the show in a good way.

The culmination with the appearance of all 13 Doctors is just a huge squee moment. I remember watching this episode on the TV and just getting so excited, especially with the brief appearance of the 13th Doctor! I still get some of that excitement watching it still.

Another really cool thing about this episode was that it was broadcast to UK cinemas at the same time as it went out on the air. I didn't manage to go see it there but that is a great idea for the BBC to do.

This is a really fantastic adventure and it fully lives up to the title of a 50th anniversary episode. This is one you have to watch.

Episode #249 : The Last Day

"Nothing can get past a Sky Trench. But if just one Dalek made it through, it could destroy this entire city. That's all it would take, one Dalek. One Dalek, acting alone, and we're finished."

Episode #249:      The Last Day.
Air Date:              20th November 2013.

A Gallifreyan soldier undergoes initiation in the use of a headcam, as well as the defence of Arcadia. During his training, the impossible happens and Daleks invade.

The Last Day is a short mini-episode similar to The Night of the Doctor except this one does not feature the Doctor but instead shows us the beginning of the Dalek invasion of Gallifrey. We see it from the point of view of a new recruit on the day everything goes wrong.

There is nothing really to report about this one. It is just a little teaser in the run up to the 50th anniversary episode. The BBC could have done better with this but I guess they blew the budget with the return of Paul Mcgann in the previous teaser. It's a nice touch but easily avoided. Just go straight to The Day of the Doctor.

Episode #209 : The End of Time

"It's not that I'm an innocent. I've taken lives. I got worse, I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes, I think a Time Lord lives too long..."

Episode #209:      The End of Time.
Companions:        The 10th Doctor.
Air Date:              25th December 2009 to 1st January 2010.

It is the Tenth Doctor's final journey — but his psychotic nemesis, the Master, has been resurrected on Christmas Eve! Each determined to cheat death, the battle rages from the abandoned wastelands of London to the mysterious Immortality Gate, whilst the alien Ood warn of an even greater danger approaching, as a terrible shadow falls across the entire universe. With the sound of the drums growing louder in the Master's head and an ancient trap closing around the Earth, the Doctor and Wilfred Mott must fight alone. Sacrifices must be made, and the deadly prophecy warns: "He will knock four times."

David Tennant's final adventure as the Doctor has arrived. Split into two parts shown on Christmas Day and New Years Day, The End of Time is a great example of what the show can be when done properly. In other words with a decent budget to go along with some good script writing. As well as being good entertainment with action, humour and a touch of apocalypse, we also have some well written interaction that causes the viewer to take a better look at the man we know as the Doctor.

To start with there is a scene where the Doctor and Wildfred are talking about the Doctor's immanent death. He talks about regeneration and how it's like dying. Everything that you are and everything that you were is swept away and for all intents and purposes a new man walks away. I have never really thought about it but really that must be terrifying for a Time Lord regardless of age and number of times that he has regenerated. I would say that it goes someway to explain the darker persona of the Doctor since the Time War. Secondly, we have the above quote which makes me think specifically about the 7th Doctor and how he manipulated people, including his companion Ace, into doing what he wanted. I could do with more scenes like this which expand upon the character.

The Master returns in this story but his resurrection is interrupted and things have gone a little wrong. Burning energy at an accelerated rate he is forced to consume food, and people (at least two if not four!) to survive. When things fluctuate we see a rather CGI skeletal figure of the master which looks a tad cheap. The modern equivalent of overlapping effects from the old day I guess. He also seems to have developed amazing jumping capabilities and the power to throw energy bolts from his hands, although they don't really seem to do very much.

The Master is not the only returning figure however. Rassilon, founder of Time Lord society appears to have been resurrected as well to lead the war effort in the Time War. He's not the same individual we meet as a spiritual presence in The Five Doctors however. He appears to have been driven mad by the events of the Time War and is quite the despot now. You can see why the Doctor now fears his fellow Time Lords. This time around Rassilon is played by veteran James Bond actor, Timothy Dalton. I imagine getting such a well known actor was quite a cue for the BBC.

We are also introduced in this story to a new figure. Appearing at times to Wilfred and standing, face covered, in Rassilon's presence is a Time Lady. She seems to be something to the Doctor although we never learn in the show who she is. There are rumours that she may be Romana or even more interesting, the Doctor's own mother. We may never truly know.

At the end of this episode we finally have the reveal of the "four knocks" plot line which leads to the eventual regeneration. As the Doctor slowly dies he goes and pays a quick visit to some of his former companions: Martha Jones and Mickey Smith, Sarah Jane and Luke Smith, Captain Jack and Rose Tyler. It's a nice ending and an appropriate goodbye from the 10th Doctor.

I liked David Tennant and his portrayal of the Doctor but I never quite saw what the fuss about him was from some fans. He was good but not that good. I guess it's more fan girls adoring his good looks rather than his character, but hey, who knows.

Episode #129 : The Five Doctors

"A man is the sum of his memories. A Time Lord even more so."

Episode 129: The Five Doctors.
Companions: 1st Doctor, 2nd Doctor, 3rd Doctor, 4th Doctor, 5th Doctor, Susan, The Brigadier, Sarah Jane Smith, Romana, Tegan, and Turlough.
Air Date: 25th November 1983.

The Doctor's past incarnations are taken out of time by a forbidden time scoop device. The fourth Doctor becomes trapped in the vortex but the others find themselves, together with a number of their old companions, with the fifth Doctor and his companions in the Death Zone on their home planet Gallifrey. Here they face a Dalek, a Yeti, a quicksilver Raston Warrior Robot and numerous Cybermen. Also present is the Master, who has been summoned by the High Council of Time Lords to help the Doctor. It turns out that President Borusa is the mysterious operator of the time scoop. He aims to use the Doctors to breach the defences of the Dark Tower - Rassilon's tomb - so that he can enter there and claim immortality.

The Five Doctors was commissioned for the show's 20th anniversary and the BBC pulled out all the stops with this one. We get four out of the five Doctors taking part (the 4th Doctor and Romana get stuck in the time vortex for the duration of the story), cameo's by a Dalek and a Yeti, and the Cybermen with the Master as a major element of the story. Lots of Who elements and references, even spectral former companions, coupled with a fast punchy script makes this story just awesome for any fan of the show. There are so many references I could write a whole page just about them.

The interaction between the different incarnations of the Doctor are just awesome. You get a strong vibe that the different versions really don't like one another, and their banter comes off as a familial grieving which anyone with siblings can relate to.

By the time of the 20th anniversary William Hartnell had passed away so the role was given to Richard Hurndell who did such a good job as the 1st Doctor that I think he did better than Hartnell. Some may consider that heresy but that's how he comes across to me.

The 4th Doctor and Romana only appear in shots from the the unfinished Shada. Tom Baker felt that it was too soon since his departure from the show to make a return even for the anniversary episode. A great shame but four Doctors were enough really. had he taken part I wonder whether the script would have allowed enough screen time and dialogue for all of them.

I really cannot shout the praises of this story enough. If you haven't seen it hunt it down on DVD and watch it. I'm sure you will agree how good this one is.

Tegan: "You mean you're deliberately choosing to go on the run from your own people, in a rackety old TARDIS?"
Fifth Doctor: "Why not? After all, that's how it all started."

Episode #123 : Arc of Infinity

"You know how it is; you put things off for a day and next thing you know, it's a hundred years later."

Episode 123:   Arc of Infinity.
Companions:   5th Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa.
Air Date:         3rd to 12th January 1983.

An antimatter creature has crossed into normal space via a phenomenon known as the Arc of Infinity but needs to bond physically with a Time Lord in order to remain stable. A traitor on Gallifrey has chosen the Doctor as the victim. The High Council, headed by President Borusa, decides that the Doctor's life must be terminated in order to avoid this danger. Tegan meanwhile arrives in Amsterdam to visit her cousin, Colin Frazer, only to learn that he has disappeared. She enters a crypt in search of him and is captured by a hideous creature, the Ergon.

Another classic villain returns... Omega! Once again he is trying to leave behind the anti-matter universe and return to our own. To do this he must bond with a physical entity and the Doctor has been chosen. There is no excuse given as to how Omega survived the events of The Three Doctors but he has, and this time with a much better costume design that makes him seem more menacing.

Tegan returns to the show after being fired as an air stewardess. We don't know why she was sacked and we never find out. My guess would be that she was vanished with the Doctor for a bit longer than she expected and couldn't explain why. Nyssa seems happy to have her back, the Doctor less so.

We get another look at Time Lord society and this time they live up to the corrupt reputation that later Doctor's would subscribe to them. They seem to have forgotten everything that happened the last time Omega showed up, or what good the Doctor has done, because they seem content to simply kill him rather than let him stop the menace that is growing. It seems very shortsighted of them really. One of the Time Lords, Commander Maxil, is played by Colin Baker who would eventually replace Peter Davison in the role of the Doctor.

One small niggle that starts to grow on me around about this time is where in time is present day Gallifrey? I have always assumed that the present for there is somewhere far far away in the distant future since you can't go past Gallifreyan present in a time capsule. But they seem far too concerned with events in the past if you get my meaning since both this story and The Three Doctors is set on 20th century Earth. It is never really explained and that bugs me somewhat.

Arc of Infinity is a good sequel to The Three Doctors with a far pace and some OK story lines. It does feel though that if the story had perhaps had another draft or two it may have been even better.

Episode #97 : The Invasion of Time

Borusa : "You have access to the greatest source of knowledge in the universe."

The Doctor : "Well, I do talk to myself sometimes."

Episode 97:   The Invasion of Time.
Companions: 4th Doctor, K9 and Leela.
Air Date:       Six episodes. 4th February to 11th March 1978.

After a meeting in space with a group of unseen aliens the Doctor returns to Gallifrey and claims the presidency of the Time Lords. Leela meanwhile tries to work out why he is behaving out of character. At his induction, the Doctor is 'crowned' with a device giving him access to the Matrix. He then arranges for the transduction barriers around Gallifrey to be put out of action by K9. When this is done, his alien 'friends' materialise. They are telepathic invaders called Vardans. The Doctor finally springs his trap and the Vardans are banished. Then, however, Gallifrey is invaded by Sontarans who, unknown to the Doctor, were using the Vardans to enable them to conquer the Time Lords. The Doctor uses knowledge extracted from the Matrix by K9 to construct a forbidden de-mat gun, activated by the Great Key of Rassilon. He then uses this to kill the Sontarans, although his memory of recent events is wiped in the process.

The Invasion of Time is in my opinion one of the worse if not THE worst story in the classic series. The production values are just truly shocking in this one. The Vardans appear initially as floating sheets of tin foil and then solidify into space age British colonial soldiers complete with pith helmets. Then the Sontarans arrive and the make up for them is absolutely terrible. Finally, during a chase sequence through the corridors and rooms of the TARDIS brick corridors and warehouse looking sets are used, completely destroying the mystique. Just shockingly bad.

The only positives that come out of this adventure are more information on the Time Lords and their political ways, more time with Borusa - setting him up for his next appearance and some hints about Rassilon, the founder of Time Lord society on Gallifrey. But that is it.

Sadly we see the departure of Leela and the K9 mark 1 at the end of this. Leela elects to remain on Gallifrey to marry someone who hardly knows and K9 decides to remain with her. It does make me wonder why Leela is allowed but the Doctor had to abandon Sarah Jane Smith at his last visit. I do miss Leela though. As the primitive/noble savage type companion I felt that she added a bit to the show that more capable companions lack.

The Invasion of Time is so dreadful that I recommend avoiding it altogether.

Episode #88 : The Deadly Assassin

"Through the millennia, the Time Lords of Gallifrey led a life of ordered calm, protected against all threats from lesser civilisations by their great power. But this was to change. Suddenly, and terribly, the Time Lords faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history..."

Episode 88:   The Deadly Assassin.
Companions: 4th Doctor.
Air Date:       Four episodes. 30th October to 20th November 1976.

The Doctor arrives on Gallifrey, where he is accused of the assassination of the Time Lord President. Investigating with the aid of Co-ordinator Engin and Castellan Spandrell, he discovers that this is part of a plot hatched by his old adversary the Master.

The Deadly Assassin is the story that sets out exactly how the Time Lords would be presented from here on out. This story sets up their appearance, politics, culture and gives us the first reference to a twelve regeneration limit. At the time of original broadcast it appears to have upset a number of fans because of the depiction of Time Lord society. Specifically that prior to this the Time Lords are set up on a high pedestal as a race of super powerful beings with master over time itself, can make entire planets vanish and whatever else they choose to do. Following this story they seem to be no different to mankind in pretty much every way. Personally I like this portrayal as it makes them easier to identify with. Plus, I like the costumes.

With this story we have the return of the Doctor's arch nemesis the Master. This time round though he has reached the end of his regenerations and his living purely by force of will alone in his own corpse. Following the events of this story he achieves some sense of renewal, though not a fresh regeneration, and escapes as always to fight the Doctor another day.

There is, for me at least, a small problem with the flow of this tale and that is that a good chunk of it takes place inside the Matrix - the Time Lord's computer system. This gives us a very surreal engagement between the Doctor's mental self and that of the Master's minion (a traitorous Time Lords). Filmed entirely on location somewhere we have the Doctor facing a biplane, a train, a big game hunter and other aspects of the first World War. It just doesn't quite work very well. It looks out of place with everything else.

Though not a great story it is enjoyable and gets bonus thumbs up for giving us our first proper look at Time Lord society.

Episode #65 : The Three Doctors

"Well Sergeant, aren't you going to say that it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside - everybody else does."

Episode 65:   The Three Doctors.
Companions: The 1st Doctor, 2nd Doctor, 3rd Doctor and Jo Grant.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 30th December 1972 to 20th January 1973.

Time itself is in peril! The Time Lords find themselves besieged by a mysterious enemy, the legendary Time Lord, Omega. Omega has been inhabiting the anti-matter universe on the other side of the black hole from which the Time Lords draw their power.
They enlist the Doctor in his first three incarnations to battle this foe, who turns out to be a legend from the Time Lords' remote past.
But vital cosmic energy is draining into a black hole and the Time Lords are under siege. The Doctor is their only hope but, trapped in the TARDIS, he's powerless. The only way out is to break the First Law of Time to let the Doctor help himself - literally.

The first of the multi-Doctor stories and a rather good one to boot. Although called The Three Doctors, it is primarily Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee. William Hartnell was rather unwell at the time of filming so he is shown only on the TARDIS display screen giving advice to his other selves. Sadly, he would pass away only a few months after this episode. It does however set up the possibility of other stories where multiple Doctors can meet and interact. Other than the presence of multiple Doctors, what makes it work so well is how their interactions together are written and how you get the impression that different incarnations don't really get along with one another.

The villain of the piece is a former legendary Time Lord named Omega. He has been trapped in an anti-matter universe since giving the Time Lords the ability to travel through time and space. Driven somewhat mad by his isolation he wants to return to our universe. Although defeated, Omega will return much later during Peter Davison's time as the Doctor in The Arc of Infinity.

The Brigadier shows his usual lack of thought in this story, refusing to believe anything the Doctors tell him, and insisting that the anti-matter universe is in fact somewhere near Cromer in East Anglia. While it may work for the story it does make his character seem awfully thick.

Upon the completion of this adventure, the Time Lords forgive the Doctor his transgressions and free him to travel in time and space once more.

The Three Doctors is a great piece of entertainment that every fan of the show should watch.

Episode #50 : The War Games

"All these evils I have fought, while you have done nothing but observe! True, I am guilty of interference. Just as you are guilty of failing to use your great powers to help those in need!"

Episode 50:   The War Games.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot.
Air Date:        Ten episodes. 19th April to 21st June 1969.

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive on an unnamed planet. At first believing themselves in the midst of World War I, they realise it to be one of many War Zones overseen by the War Lords, who have kidnapped large numbers of human soldiers in order to create an army to conquer the galaxy. Infiltrating the control base, the Doctor discovers that the War Chief is also a Time Lord. The creeping realisation sets in that the Doctor cannot solve this problem alone, and that his days of wandering may be at an end.

This is the final story for the second incarnation of the Doctor, barring the three one off episodes in the future. It is a shame that at ten episodes it is by far too long and all rather dull because of it. Only at the end when we get our first look at the Times Lords does the interest factor once again come back. Very disappointing.

At the end of the story, when the villainous War Chief and the War Lords have been dealt with by the Time Lords, the Doctor is put on trial for his interference in galactic events. Other than the War Chief and the Monk this is the first time we get a look at the Doctors own people and what they are like. After defending himself in their court, it is decided that he is doing good in the universe and will be sent back in exile to the Earth with no knowledge of how to fly the TARDIS, and the Time Lords force him to regenerate.

As for Zoe and Jaime, they are both sent back to where the Doctor picked them up but the Time Lords wipe their memories of the time they spent with the Doctor. I find this curious as they don't do this to any of his other companions past or future.

Over his time on screen, Patrick Troughton plays a very different Doctor to William Hartnell. I just don't find him a particularly good actor, though he does seem better in later appearances with his future incarnations. Some of it I put down to 1960's production values with black and white television.